Victoria Kaspi

Victoria Kaspi received the 2021 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for her contributions to the understanding of neutron stars and magnetars, particularly through innovative radio and X-ray observations. The Shaw Prize is often referred to as the 'Nobel of the East.'

Kaspi is a professor of physics at McGill University in Montreal, where she also holds the Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics. She leads research groups that use major radio telescopes including the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME).

Magnetars are a type of neutron star with extremely powerful magnetic fields—trillions of times stronger than Earth's. Kaspi's research has used X-ray and radio observations to understand the physics of these ultra-magnetized stellar remnants and their connection to fast radio bursts.

In addition to the 2021 Shaw Prize, Kaspi has received the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Canada. She was also awarded the Companion of the Order of Canada for her scientific contributions.